Spinal stabilization procedures typically involve inserting a pedicle screw into the pedicle or pillar of the spine, and then connecting the screw to either plates or rods for stabilization of the lumbar spine for fractures, tumors, and various degenerative conditions. When this procedure is used on osteoporotic patients the pedicle screw is sometimes difficult to fix because the threads of the pedicle screw do not properly secure within the material of the pillar. This is also a problem with non-osteoporotic patients when attempting to secure surgical anchors within the material of other skeletal members. To help achieve proper fixation of screws in osteoporotic skeletal structures, a fenestrated screw is used in conjunction with a cementitious material to provide a better footing for the screw and achieve enhanced bone fixation.
To achieve this fixation, current techniques often use a driver that is removably attached to the screw and is used to place the screw in a determined location. Once the pedicle screw is in place, the driver is undocked from the screw and a delivery device for the cement is docked to the head of the screw. Percutaneous fenestrated screw procedures are very difficult to perform with current technologies because the process of removing the driver from the screw and attaching a delivery system is often very arduous.